Alaska Airlines Announces Marketing Leadership changes

3/15/2010 12:56 p.m.

SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines today announced a realignment of its marketing, sales and online commerce groups.

Joe Sprague, a 10-year veteran at Alaska Airlines, has been named vice president of marketing. Sprague will be responsible for the carrier's overall marketing strategy as he oversees marketing communications, sales, reservations, food and beverage, customer care, the Mileage Plan frequent flier program and Board Rooms. Sprague will also retain responsibility for Alaska Air Cargo, a division he has led for the past two years.

Steve Jarvis, formerly Alaska's vice president of marketing, sales and customer experience, will assume the new role of vice president of customer innovation and alaskaair.com. In this position, Jarvis will oversee the airline's Web site and efforts across the company to continue developing customer-facing technology, such as online and mobile phone applications.

"Joe and Steve share a wealth of experience and complementary talents that reflect our company's traditions of industry-leading customer service and technological innovation to make travel easier for customers," Alaska Airlines President Brad Tilden said. "They'll work closely together in their new roles and with our frontline employees to further strengthen our marketing efforts and continue to help set Alaska apart in this intensely competitive industry."

Sprague began his aviation career more than two decades ago as a customer service agent at a commuter airline in Juneau, Alaska, and flew as a commercial pilot in the state. He joined Alaska Airlines in 2000 as a regional sales director, served as managing director of government affairs in Washington, D.C., and led the public affairs and inflight divisions before moving to cargo. Sprague earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Washington.

Jarvis joined Alaska Airlines in 1999 as staff vice president of e-commerce after serving in a variety of engineering design and technology-related positions at Boeing, Autodesk, AT&T Wireless and Destinations.com, an online travel portal. At Alaska, Jarvis has led a significant expansion of the company's Web site and other Internet-based technologies to boost revenues and enhance the customer experience. He earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering and master's degree in business administration from the University of Washington.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together serve more than 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Network Carriers" in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 and 2009 North America Airline Satisfaction StudiesSM. For reservations, visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.